Famous Americans

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FC: Famous Americans By Mrs. Curren's Class 2009-2010

1: Teacher's Note The Americans in our Mixbook were chosen to enhance our study of early American history in preparation for the New York State Social Studies Test. To create this book, groups of two-four children read a biography about a famous leader of our country. Each child wrote a summary of the person's life, focusing on their contributions to our nation. In the CoLab in our school, each group of children then combined their ideas to design and publish two pages of our book. This project would not have been possible without the support of two special teachers. Mrs. Clancy helped us read and comprehend the literature and write our summaries. Mr. Hochsprung, our Educational Technologist, trained us to use the tools of Mixbook to create this book. We really appreciate their help.Thank you! Mrs. Curren

4: Benjamin Franklin was born January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. He only went to school for two years. He really liked to read poems. When Benjamin was ten, he worked as an apprentice. | When Ben was twelve, he started to write his own poems. Soon he was an apprentice for his brother as a printer, but really wanted to be a publisher. At age sixteen, he ran away.

5: At age twenty-one, he was a publisher. When Ben got older, he and his son did an experiment by using a kite. He tied a key to it. This happened in 1752 during a thunderstorm. He thought lightning was electricity. The lightning flowed from the key to a bottle called the Leyden Jar. Ben proved he was right. From then on, he started to make more and more inventions. Some were the Glass Harmonica, bifocals, and an artificial arm. He also signed the U.S. Constitution. Ben died at age eighty-four on April 17, 1790.

6: Washington was called the Father of Our Country. He was born on February 22,1732. In 1735 Washington's family moved to land on the Potomac River. Washington's father made a living by growing tobacco. They were not rich but they lived well. When Washington was 11 his father died and his brother Lawrence became the head of the house and named the farm Mount Vernon. A few years later Lawrence became ill in the Fall of 1751 and decided to sail to Barbados, an island, in the Caribbean Sea. George came with him. During the trip George got small pox which is deadly disease.

7: When the colonies declared war on Great Britain for their independence, they turned to George Washington. They wanted George to lead their army. George was not the best educated leader nor the wealthiest leader. Some people did not think George was the best general. He would sometimes rather trade his fame and power for a quiet farmer's life in Virginia. After being the general in the Revolutionary War for the Continental Army, George became the first president of the United States of America.

8: Thomas Jefferson was an amazing man who accomplished many things. When Tom completed his law degree he became interested in politics. As a member of the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress, he was asked to write the Declaration of Independence.

9: Thomas Jefferson had many interests including reading,writing,music and architecture. After his childhood home burned down, he designed and built his new home which he named Monticello. After serving as Secretary of State and | Vice President he was elected the 3rd President of the USA. He accomplished many things as president, including doubling the size of the Louisiana Purchase. Thomas Jefferson was involved in many key events in the birth of our country, and that is why he is remembered today.

10: Paul Revere was a very important man in United States history. When he was a young boy, his father started his own silversmith shop. Paul loved to watch him work. When Paul's father died in 1754, Paul and his mother took over the shop, but Paul did the work. Paul Revere made many things like dishes , spice holders, silverware and many other things. Paul's first marriage was to a women named Sara. Paul liked to call her Sary. A few years later Sara died. Four years after Sara died Paul was married for a second time, this time to a women named Rachel .

11: Paul Revere told the townspeople that he would hang two lanterns if the British were coming by sea. Paul Revere would hang one lantern if they were coming by land. When Paul saw that they were coming by sea, he hung two lanterns. | Paul Revere was a volunteer for the Revolutionary War. He was a very brave messenger. Paul Revere needed to travel through the war to deliver messages to the colonists. All this led to what he was famous for,The Midnight Ride.

12: Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in 1815 in Johnstown,NY. Elizabeth Cady Stanton is famous because she fought for women's rights. Her dad did not want a daughter because he thought a son was braver, more useful, and smarter.These are some of the ways that women were treated: a married women was treated like she was dead, women were never allowed to vote, they could never chose what job they wanted and they did not get paid a lot, women did not get an equal education, men used to be allowed to abuse women, men decided if they wanted to get divorced. | After that Elizabeth came up with the idea of a Women's Rights Convention. On April 9,1865 the Civil War ended and the Thirteenth Amendment was passed. The purpose of that amendment was to free all of the slaves.The Fourteenth Amendment said anyone born in the United States was a citizen.The Fifteenth Amendment was that the right to vote was not judged on a person's skin color,but women still could not vote. Lizzie wanted to be elected into office. Elizabeth spoke everywhere to get women and men to vote for her. She only got twenty-four votes, but she was proud of the votes she had earned. Lizzie really wanted women to have their own rights.

13: Elizabeth Cady Stanton was very tired that she went to sleep a few minutes later she died. She lived from 1815 to 1902.After she died,in 1920, there was a new amendment added to the Constitution for women to have their own rights. That is the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life.

14: In the 1800's a young girl named Belle Hardenbergh, at age nine, was sold as a slave to John Nealy for $50.00. Over the next next several years,she was sold many more times. As Belle got older,her new owner in New Paltz, New York forced her to marry a man named Thomas and have children. So there were more slaves. Her only son, Peter was sold at five years old as a servant to a doctor in New York City. Belle did not want to live as a slave anymore. She really wanted to get her son Peter back. So she went through a lot of work to get her son back. Finally after all her hard work in court, she got her son Peter. So then she set out and went on her journey. On her way she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. A Sojourner is a person who goes from place to place and not staying long. She went to big meetings to talk about rights for women and slavery.

15: She worked hard all her life to free other slaves. She delivered a famous speech that was named "Ain't I a Woman" in 1855, to fight for equal rights for women. She died in 1883 at the age of 87 with her children at her side. Sojourner Truth was very brave and a hero in her time.

16: Harriet Tubman was a great and courageous leader. She was born in Bucktown, Maryland in about the 1820s. Harriet was five when she got her first job. When Harriet was thirteen, she tried to save a slave from being beaten. The slave owner picked up a big weight. He threw it at the old man and hit Harriet. | It crushed a portion of her skull. Harriet was brave and kind. In 1844, she married John Tubman. Four years later, Harriet wanted to run away but John said no. "I want to run away," said Harriet. "No, I don't think you should. It's too dangerous." Harriet did anyway. Then she was free from slavery. | In 1850, Harriet went on her first of 19 trips to the south to save slaves. Harriet saved over three hundred slaves before the Civil War. During the war, she saved eight hundred slaves. In 1861, Harriet did four years of service for the Union Army.

17: In 1870, Harriet Tubman married Nelson Davis. In 1896, she bought land in Auburn to build the Tubman home. A year later, she received an honor from Queen Victoria for her bravery. She got an award for being a scout, a spy, a cook, and a nurse in a hospital. Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, New York of pneumonia in 1913 at the age of ninety three.